Rachid Mekhloufi

Rachid Mekhloufi (Arabic: رشيد مخلوفي; 12 August 1936 – 8 November 2024) was an Algerian footballer who played as a striker. He later became a manager and coached the Algeria national team.

Rachid Mekhloufi

Mekhloufi in 1950s
Personal information
Date of birth	(1936-08-12)12 August 1936
Place of birth	Sétif, French Algeria
Date of death	8 November 2024(2024-11-08) (aged 88)
Place of death	Algiers, Algeria
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
0000–1954	USM Sétif
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1954–1958	Saint-Étienne	102	(59)
1962–1963	Servette	19	(13)
1963–1968	Saint-Étienne	192	(78)
1968–1970	Bastia	67	(20)
Total		380	(170)
International career
1956–1957	France	4	(0)
1958–1962	FLN	40
1963–1969[1]	Algeria	10	(5)
Managerial career
1969–1970	Bastia
1971–1972	Algeria
1975–1979	Algeria
1981–1982	AS Marsa
1992–1993	AS Marsa
1996–1998	Nejmeh
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

International career

Mekhloufi (bottom row, second from right) with FLN football team.

In the middle of the Algerian War, on 13 April 1958, ten of the most well-known France-based Algerian professional footballers fled from France to go and play for the new FLN football team. This team was created from the National Liberation Front (Algeria). One of these 10 players was Rachid Mekhloufi. Rachid, "abandoned the French team preparing for the World Cup Finals in Sweden and instantly became an Algerian national symbol."^[2] By the summer, more and more France-based Algerians came to join the original ten who fled. Rachid and his teammates wanted to show the French people the serious war that was going on in Algeria. Many in France did not realize the extent of the war raging in Algeria, but when ten high-profile players left, the French citizens had to wonder and figure out the exact reason, especially when a few of the 10 footballers were preparing for the World Cup Finals. At the same time, both Rachid and his teammates gave a sense of nationalism to the citizens of Algeria during their efforts in the war. Mekhloufi (and many others) sacrificed their careers by playing in less competitive environments with less demanding training regimes. Mekhloufi is quoted saying "I had lost the taste for effort, the necessary fight" when asked about playing political football. Even though France attempted to hinder the FLN team's success by requesting to FIFA that the team not be recognized, FIFA was only able to enforce these restrictions in some countries.^[2]

Death

On 8 November 2024, it was announced that Mekhloufi had died at the age of 88.^[3]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[4]

Club	Season	League			Cup[a]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Saint-Étienne	1954–55	Division 1	16	9	6	4	—		—		22	13
	1955–56		31	21	4	0	—		—		35	21
	1956–57		30	25	2	1	—		—		32	26
	1957–58		25	4	2	0	2[b]	1	—		29	5
	Total		102	59	14	5	2	1	—		118	65
Servette	1962–63	Nationalliga A	19	13	0	0	3[b]	2	—		22	15
Saint-Étienne	1963–64	Division 1	34	16	1	0	—		—		35	16
	1964–65		32	8	5	0	2[b]	1	—		39	9
	1965–66		38	21	1	1	—		—		39	22
	1966–67		38	12	2	1	—		1[c]	1	41	14
	1967–68		30	7	5	5	4[b]	0	—		39	12
	Total		192	78	18	7	6	1	1	1	217	87
Bastia	1968–69	Division 1	33	13	1	0	—		—		34	13
	1969–70		34	7	9	2	—		—		43	9
	Total		67	20	10	2	—		—		77	22
Career total			380	170	42	14	11	4	1	1	434	189

1. Includes the Coupe de France, Coupe Charles Drago and Swiss Cup.
2. Appearance(s) in European Champion Clubs' Cup
3. Appearance in Challenge des champions

International

Scores and results list Algeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mekhloufi goal.

List of international goals scored by Rachid Mekhloufi

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	28 February 1963	19 Juin 1965, Oran, Algeria	Czechoslovakia	2–0	4–0[5]	Friendly
1				3–0
2	5 July 1963	Stade d'El Anasser, Algiers	Egypt	1–1	1–1[6]	Friendly
3	7 July 1963	19 Juin 1965, Oran, Algeria	Egypt	1–1	2–2[7]	Friendly
6	22 March 1963	Alexandria Stadium, Alexandria, Egypt	Egypt	1–2	2–2[8]	Friendly

Honours

Player

Saint-Étienne

• French Division 1: 1956–57, 1963–64, 1966–67, 1967–68
• Coupe de France: 1968
• Trophée des Champions: 1957, 1967
• Coupe Charles Drago: 1955, 1958

France military

• Military World Cup: 1957

Individual

• All-time AS Saint-Étienne top scorer: 192 goals

Manager

Algeria

• Mediterranean Games gold medal: 1975
• All-Africa Games gold medal: 1978

Individual

• Lebanese Premier League Best Coach: 1996–97^[9]